by Professor Juan Miguel Fernández-Balboa,
Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain

ABSTRACT

In this keynote address, the speaker will draw on a pedagogy that combines disequilibrium and discomfort with care and hope. Through probing critical questions and thoughtful responses, the presentation will explore the concept of “education”, its purposes, the language through which is articulated, and some of the ways in which it is used—and misused. The main aim is to create the conditions for deep reflection, open dialogue, and pertinent action in a time of profound and often unsettling socio-political, economic and cultural transformations and challenges worldwide.

BIOGRAPHY

Juan-Miguel Fernández-Balboa was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1956. He has been a professor and researcher in education and physical education and sports sciences for the last forty years. He earned his undergraduate degree in Physical Education from the National Institute of Physical Education in Barcelona (Spain, 1983) and his doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (United States, 1989). After teaching at North American universities for nearly twenty years, Dr. Fernández-Balboa came back to Spain, to join the faculty of education at the Universidad Autómoma de Madrid, where, after another two decades, he has just retired as a full professor. During this time, among other subjects, he taught sport sociology, applied statistics to physical activity and sport, and didactics. He has authored nearly one hundred publications on education, physical education and personal development and delivered multiple presentations at international venues on these very same topics. Currently, he is a mental performance coach for Real Madrid’s women’s fútbol team.